Transportation

Transportation is about making connections — linking people to one another, to places, and to resources. Kearns & West focuses on communities and their relationships to transportation systems, services, and plans.

From planning for bicycles and pedestrian amenities to major investments in bus, rail, and highway infrastructure, our team collaborates with elected officials, public agencies, private providers, and stakeholders to ensure that meaningful engagement results in better outcomes.

Kearns & West specializes in:

Equity, Environmental Justice, and Title VI
Active Transportation
Bus and Rail System Design
Highways and Bridges
Accessible Transportation, ADA, and Paratransit
Transportation Program
Implementation
Transit Systems Integration
Emerging Transportation
Technologies
Energy and Climate Adaptation
Branding, Marketing, and Information for Transportation Programs and Services

Sample Projects

California High-Speed Rail Authority — Northern California Environmental Planning and Environmental Process Outreach Program

Kearns & West currently manages and conducts the stakeholder engagement and outreach efforts to support environmental review on two sections of the High-Speed Rail Project: San Francisco to San Jose and San Jose to Merced. Combined, these 130 miles of high-speed rail track are being planned in consultation with hundreds of stakeholders including local governments and State agencies, agricultural interests, neighborhood associations, environmental groups, and business organizations.
Kearns & West strategizes, designs, and implements a variety of engagement efforts including public workshops and open houses, community and technical working group meetings, targeted outreach to environmental justice communities, coordination with landowners on the project’s permission-to-enter process, informational materials, and reports and other content for the Authority’s Environmental Impact Report.

Public open house meetings — both in-person and recently online — have focused on sharing information with the general public on the environmental review process and the proposed project alternatives, including anticipated impacts. Kearns & West continues to scope, plan, and facilitate public engagement planning meetings, design and staff the open house meetings, track comments received at meetings, and prepare Outreach Summary Reports for the Authority Board of Directors.

Kearns & West also developed a series of flyover videos (to illustrate the proposed corridors), numerous fact sheets and newsletters in multiple languages, and all of the presentation materials for the meetings. Kearns & West staff monitor and track online comments and manage the telephone call comment lines that allow members of the public to ask questions and submit comments.

Bay Area Plug-in Electric Vehicle Coordinating Council — Facilitation & Meeting Coordination

Created in 2011, the Bay Area Plug-in Electric Vehicle Coordinating Council (EV Coordinating Council) is a staff-level, peer-to-peer forum that provides an opportunity for participants to discuss PEV-related emerging trends and to share information about their experiences in implementing best practices that support accelerated PEV adoption within their communities. Participants convene approximately three times a year and represent organizations from PEV industries; state, regional, and local government agencies; research institutions; and nonprofits.

The EV Coordinating Council was instrumental in guiding the development of the Bay Area PEV Readiness Plan, which was completed in December 2013. This plan contains strategies and guidance — from research, analysis, and public input — for local governments and other PEV stakeholders to implement in order to support the mass deployment of PEVs over the next 10 years.

City of Burbank, CA — Complete Our Streets Project

Kearns & West led the outreach and engagement effort as part of the Complete Streets Plan and in support of the engineering/planning lead. A comprehensive public involvement plan was developed and then implemented by working with stakeholders and community groups, including online and social media outreach, community walking and bike tours, pop-up events, and other scheduled activities to engage the public in the process.

Washington, DC — District Department of Transportation —Multimodal Payment & Data Aggregator Mobility Wallet Services

Kearns & West is leading facilitation services for the District Department of Transportation’s (DDOT) Regional, Multimodal Payment and Data Aggregator/Mobility Wallet Services RFP Preparation Support. Kearns & West led core team interactions, facilitating across DDOT and partner service areas, as part of a data-driven visioning process. The outcome defined internal DDOT and key stakeholder WMATA’s interests for this product, including potential requirements, data needs, and research gaps to inform ongoing market and vendor research. With this information, Kearns & West led development of an interactive requirements tool that defined a “snapshot” of Minimum Viable Product (MVP) requirements along with value-add features. The Kearns & West team is currently supporting planning and implementation for the vendor, multijurisdictional engagement to inform development of the RFP, general research support of community relations implications, and an evaluation of stakeholder buy-in to create a foundation for continued engagement alongside successful procurement and product implementation.

San Francisco Paratransit — Outreach and Information Tools

In this current project, San Francisco Paratransit sought to improve the user experience of its new software tools, provide information about their use, and develop informational materials (brochures, videos, and user guides in both print and 508-compliant online versions) to educate SF Paratransit users and their caretakers about the new services.
Kearns & West is developing information tools (brochures and videos, available in multiple languages) to provide guidance to users about the following:
• Availability of the Flywheel app for scheduling wheelchair-accessible vehicles in San Francisco.
• SF Paratransit Taxi Online for both general SF Paratransit Taxi trips and Taxi Shop-A-Round trips to allow consumers to check their taxi debit card balance, report a card as lost or stolen and request a replacement card, to review their taxi ride history, and reload taxi debit value online.
• SF Access Online to allow consumers to schedule the following online: book next day ride requests; request new standing orders; request changes to existing standing orders; check the status of an existing ride; or use an online feedback tool to file a complaint form, offer a compliment, or ask a question.

Kearns & West is also preparing the new Rider’s Guide to San Francisco Paratransit, 2021 version, produced in English and translated into Spanish, Chinese and Russian. This is the first comprehensive guide to SF Paratransit services ever developed and is designed to replace four separate brochures. Kearns & West staff meets with SF Paratransit staff biweekly to advise on tools, improve the user experience for SF Paratransit patrons (to improve the usability of the software), and identify needed materials. Kearns & West staff prepare drafts of all materials and facilitate ongoing discussions with SF Paratransit staff to refine the products.

City of Fremont — Mobility Action Plan

Fremont is one of the Bay Area’s most diverse communities. Working with a technical lead, Kearns & West designed a broad-based community engagement program to support development of this five-year plan for regional advocacy and local action to relieve traffic congestion, improve multi-modal circulation, increase safety, and adapt to new transportation technologies. Using a combination of in-person and online engagement techniques and ambassador toolkits, the Kearns & West team facilitated workshops with the Mobility Task Force and City staff to leverage the City’s community networks to involve residents in the planning process.

City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County — Countywide Transportation Plan 2040 Follow-Up Action Plan

Kearns & West designed and facilitated a working group process that brought together a diverse group of advocates and elected officials to help advance mobility in San Mateo County. After less than a year of productive discussions, the working group coalesced around a set of priorities for countywide transportation plan implementation that became the heart of the Follow-Up Action Plan. The document was unanimously approved by the City/County Association of Governments Board in November 2018.

Western Riverside County Clean Cities Coalition, CA — Alternative Fueling Station Study

Kearns & West is currently working through the Western Riverside County Clean Cities Coalition to assist with an alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) fueling infrastructure study for Western Riverside County. The goal of the project is to aid in understanding use and demand for alternative vehicles by local jurisdiction fleets and to examine where alternative fuel vehicle fueling structure currently exists and where there are opportunities for new infrastructure, focusing on federally-designated AFV fueling corridors. The project will be accomplished using data available through the Department of Energy as well as direct engagement of local jurisdictions.

Uber — Accessibility Rider Outreach and Policymaker Education

Uber engaged Kearns & West on various issues and policy matters in California to help the rideshare platform offer accessible transportation options to users via wheelchair-accessible vehicles. Kearns & West’s Public Affairs team has facilitated education efforts, including organizing in-depth ride-along experiences and policy briefings for policymakers.

San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) — Hovercraft Feasibility Study

The ferry service authority, WETA, is undertaking a feasibility study to determine if they should offer hovercraft-based passenger ferry services on the San Francisco Bay. Kearns & West facilitates quarterly workshops for a Technical Advisory Committee and Stakeholder Advocacy Committee.

Imperial County Transportation Commission, CA — Glamis SR79 OHV Crossing

Kearns & West staff led the public outreach process for a railroad crossing study in the Glamis area of Imperial County. The study addresses safe and legal crossings for off-highway vehicles to cross the Union Pacific Railroad tracks along State Route 78.

Oregon Department of Transportation and Washington Department of Transportation — Interstate Bridge Replacement Program Facilitation Services

Kearns & West provided facilitation support for WSDOT and ODOT as these agencies restarted the work to replace the Interstate Bridge over the Columbia River between the Portland and Vancouver metro areas. WSDOT and ODOT re-engaged the partners central to program development to reach a shared understanding of how key government agencies in both states will work together on Interstate Bridge Replacement Program efforts. Partner agencies included the following: TriMet and C-TRAN, Oregon Metro and the Southwest Regional Transportation Council (RTC), the cities of Portland and Vancouver, and the Ports of Portland and Vancouver.

Kearns & West facilitated the partnering process from December 2019 to May 2020 to develop commitments among the partners about how to successfully work together to advance a solution for the bridge replacement. The team conducted convening interviews with all partner agencies to learn about their interests, areas of concern, and ideas about how best to conduct a partnering process. Kearns & West applied this input to support partners’ initial efforts to design a productive and constructive process, which resulted in a draft Charter and an agreement to form two advisory groups—an Executive Steering Group (ESG) and Community Advisory Group (CAG)—engaging partners and community members in IBRP development.

Kearns & West is also working under the General Engineering Consultant to support program development efforts with continued facilitation and process support for the ESG and program partners.